Parental burnout and fertility anxiety: The role of parental psychological flexibility and family functioning among mothers.

Low fertility rates have become a global challenge faced by many countries. Existing research has primarily focused on the fertility intentions of childless individuals or mixed samples of childless individuals and parents. While investigating childless households is undoubtedly important, equal attention should be devoted to the continuing reproductive intentions of families who already have children. This study examined the longitudinal associations between parental burnout and fertility anxiety, as well as the mediating role of parental psychological flexibility and the moderating role of family functioning. We examined these relationships through a longitudinal survey involving 1,102 mothers of children from three kindergartens and one primary school in Henan Province, China. The results revealed that (a) after controlling for autoregressive paths, child age, total number of children, and subjective socioeconomic status, parental burnout (Time 1 [T1]) was positively associated with fertility anxiety (Time 3); (b) parental psychological flexibility (Time 2) partially mediated the relationship between parental burnout (T1) and fertility anxiety (Time 3); and (c) the effect of parental burnout (T1) on parental psychological flexibility (Time 2) was buffered with family functioning (T1). Parental burnout (T1) negatively associated with parental psychological flexibility (Time 2) in mothers with good family functioning (T1); this relationship was not significant in mothers with poor family functioning (T1). The findings highlight the mechanisms through which parental burnout affects fertility anxiety from the perspective of both individual (parental psychological flexibility) and contextual (family functioning) resources, offering insights for interventions targeting fertility anxiety among mothers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).